5 Uses for All-in-One Wired & Wireless Routers

One-Box Solutions Improve Flexibility, Save Money

Even though wireless WAN — particularly LTE connectivity — is becoming widely deployed among enterprises of all sizes globally, many organizations don’t plan to completely “Cut the Wire” anytime soon. Other organizations may cut the wire, but still need to leverage multiple WAN sources. Organizations that depend on multiple WAN options can reap serious cost savings by deploying all-in-one wired/wireless routers that are cloud-managed and software-defined.

With that in mind, let’s look at five compelling use cases for cloud-managed all-in-one wired and wireless routers, which can reduce your hardware stack and streamline IT management.

Day-One Internet to Wired Failover

This scenario is one of the most popular uses for all-in-one routers among Cradlepoint customers. When a business opens a new location, waiting on the ISP to set up wired-line connectivity can delay the opening by weeks; all the while, the company is incurring overhead without receiving any revenue from that location.

By deploying an all-in-one wired and wireless router, the company can utilize cellular LTE connectivity to get the location online in minutes. When the wired line is eventually installed, the company can still utilize the existing router while transitioning the LTE connection as a redundant WAN source for failover or to meet extra bandwidth needs. Further, the IT team can manage all WAN sources remotely from a single platform, NetCloud Manager, which is part of the Cradlepoint NetCloud platform.

Learn how Cradlepoint helped PANDORA Jewelry open on time with Day-1 Internet.

Load Balancing Across WAN Sources

In situations where bandwidth usage peaks during small events, a wired/wireless router can help ensure there’s always enough bandwidth available to keep users happy and applications running while allowing the organization to avoid paying extra for wired bandwidth that’s underutilized the majority of the time.

For example, in a K-12 school, the network may become overutilized during mandated, districtwide online testing. Rather than paying year-round for the wired bandwidth required during testing weeks, the school district can simply deploy Cradlepoint’s all-in-one router to load balance across wired and LTE connectivity and use NetCloud Manager (NCM) to monitor that usage remotely. NCM allows cellular data to be pooled among multiple locations.

Router Failover

Many companies utilize MLPS to simplify and offload WAN routing when connecting remote sites to each other and to the company data center on a private network. However, if a primary router fails, that connection with headquarters may be lost.

Cradlepoint’s all-in-one routers with Virtual Router Redundancy Protocol (VRRP) overlay existing network infrastructure to provide a cellular backup to MPLS. The IT team can monitor the primary circuit MPLS router, recognize when the connection goes down, and immediately start flowing traffic via the Cradlepoint router over cellular LTE to and from headquarters. Further, Cradlepoint has made it easier than ever to deploy a redundant network through NetCloud Perimeter, which creates a secure, private network over the public Internet.

WiFi-as-WAN

In certain mobile contexts, companies need the ability to switch between LTE connectivity and WiFi-as-WAN. For example, we work with customers who operate fishing vessels and cargo ships that need on-board Internet connectivity. When they’re a few miles offshore, the crew may rely on LTE, but when the ship gets closer to land or stops at the dock, it may be preferable to switch to WiFi-as-WAN. Enabling both means of connectivity with a single router — an especially important benefit in tight quarters like ships and other transportation.

Any Connection, Anywhere

Many enterprises need a single solution that could work in virtually any connectivity situation. They want to know they’ll be able to deploy new locations with any possible connection, anywhere, and at any time. Cradlepoint’s wired and wireless routers have five connectivity ports for DSL; Ethernet; WiFi; and dual-modem, multi-carrier support.